Homeschooled
by PetrichorEarth
Summary: In an alternative universe, the trolls all attend a private school together. Friendships and romances will be forged as everyone struggles to overcome the conflict of strange heiress attempting to ride the school of "impure bloods." Occasionally funny, occasionally sappy. Pairings include Sollux/Aradia, Equius/Nepeta, Feferi/Eridan and Vriska/Herself.
1. First Day

Aradia Megido stuck a barrette into her dense black hair, pinning it up into a high bun, and tied a ribbon around the base to secure it. She glanced quickly into the mirror at her outfit– a pleated black skirt that came down to mid-thigh and a vivid red T-shirt with black flowers embellishing the sleeves. Red and black seemed to make up most of her wardrobe these days.

Ever since her parents had died, all she seemed to ever wear was mourning attire... but she was okay with that.

She was okay with a lot of things now.

"ARADIA!" A shriek echoed through the hallway, bouncing off of the glossy hardwood flooring. "Let's go already!"

"Coming," Aradia muttered. She shoved on her red Converse sneakers, flung a duffel bag over one shoulder, and dashed off.

Aradia Megido came from a wealthy family. Damara, who had inherited a large sum of money after her mother's passing, was now manager of the family's estate. She had forked over some cash to contractors in the area and instructed them to build a specialized estate.

Now the Megidos owned a gorgeous Victorian villa in the suburbs, complete with a expansive lawn and large backyard. Luscious forsythia plants blossomed over the flower boxes that ringed the balcony/patio, glittering with dew, and abstract paintings dangled from the pale crimson walls. But despite the modern decor, there was something eerie and strangely antique about the empty rooms.

Aradia was suddenly snapped out of her reverie as she spotted her older sister, Damara, leaning nonchalantly against the doorway. Chunks of her hair were dyed neon red and icy blonde, and coiled up into a bun on the top of her head. In Aradia's opinion, the differently colored streaks contrasted much too sharply with Damara's naturally jet-black hair. Not that she would ever say anything. Damara always wore a coat of smoky mascara, deep black lipstick, and bloodred eyeliner. It was an effect that many in the modeling industry found striking.

Damara jingled the keys to the van, which glittered like finely polished silver in one manicured hand. "Let's blow this pop stand, brat."

* * *

The car ride was long and awkward. Damara blasted profane music and chomped on a wad of raspberry gum, while Aradia studied her calc notes (she was in advanced math).

"Damara?"

"Yeah?" Her voice was barely discernible over the roar of music. Something that sounded like a very off-key guitar solo began blaring in Aradia's left ear.

Do you think that the people here will... hate me? I'm worried that I won't fit in." Aradia didn't know what possessed her to make such a vulnerable statement (and to DAMARA, of all people) but her older sister's reaction surprised her. Damara leaned backwards, patted Aradia on the knee, and muttered: "Sheesh, kid. You're giving me déjà vu."

"W-what?" Aradia stammered. "What do you have to do with anything?"

"Well," Damara said stoically, making a sharp left turn, "I used to worry everyone would hate me whenever I started at a new school. We used to move every six months, it seemed like, when dad was in the military..." Her voice trailed off.

"I was so little," Aradia said thoughtfully. "I- I don't remember."

"Alright," was Damara's dubious response. "But it seems just a wee bit too convenient that you chose to forget something tragic, while all of your other childhood memories are perfectly intact."

The old Aradia would have bristled at this. But the new Aradia just sat there limply, not even trying to make an emotion surface from the shriveled mess that was her heart.

A few long moments later, Damara's van pulled up to the large red-brick building that was to be Aradia's new school. She sucked in her breath sharply and stared up at the midnight-black banner that read _Homeschool for the Gifted & Talented_ _._ It sounded like a very bad attempt at irony, considering it was a private school. Nevertheless, Aradia was bewitched by the way the looming spires contrasted with the smog-choked sky.

"Well, this is it," Damara said flatly. "It's now or never to get out of my car." Aradia realized she must have been zoning off for a while.

"Any day now, Ara..."

"Okay, okay," Aradia blurted, hoping to pacify her sister. "I'm leaving!" She clambered out of the seat, clutching her duffel full of books in both hands.

Once Aradia had exited the car, she resumed starting at the majestic construct of her soon-to-be school. The scholarship letter cryptically scrawled on parchment that informed her she was "very special" had done nothing to prepare Aradia for the sheer sight of it all. There was dark stucco roof, an array of lush herbs carpeting the campus, and blue-tinted windows that floated in the white marble walls like eyes.

After another moment of taking it all in, Aradia pivoted to thank her sister for the car ride.

"Thanks, Dam–"

But Damara had already sped off in a cloud of exhaust. Great.

Aradia wandered up to the entrance hall. The path was a hard, shiny coat of marble, darker than the walls of the building itself. She rubbed the toe of her sneakers over it, and giggled at the faint squeaking noise.

 _What to do next?_ She supposed she should head off to the office to collect her schedule.

Aradia cautiously stepped through the threshold, disregarding the bulletins tacked to a piece of corkboard that urged students "not to enter _until_ the bell rang." She wandered down the marble hallway, passing darkened classrooms. Eventually, Aradia spotted a patch of brightness in the otherwise dim hallway. She swung open the thin oak door with a "CREEEAK."

Another girl was standing in the dim room, silhouetted by a pool of light. She had fluffy red hair that the old Aradia probably would have envied, twinkling blue eyes, and a kind smile.

"Hello," Aradia said quietly.

"Oh!" the girl jumped. She had a very high-pitched voice. "Why, you're new here, aren't you? I bet I'd recognize you otherwise."

"You... would?" Aradia asked.

"Whale, there aren't many pupils in this school, if you haven't caught on," the girl replied with a giggle. "That was a fish pun, by the way."

"... Oh," was Aradia's somewhat apathetic response. "So, um, what's your name?"

"Feferi," the girl chirped, extending an arm in her direction. Aradia took it, and they shook hands. The circumstances were so absurd by this point that it wasn't even an awkward gesture.

"So, what are you doing back here?" Aradia queried, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Oh, I'm guessing you saw the 'DO NOT ENTER' sign!" Feferi giggled, pushing up the raspberry-colored glasses perched on her nose. "Well, I'm technically not supposed to be here _yet._ I work part-time in the office for extra credit during free period, and I left my homework here, so I thought I'd drop by and get it."

"Mm."

There was a brief lull in the conversation, in which Aradia took the time to stare down at her battered sneakers. They looked strangely out of place against the smooth granite flooring.

"So," Feferi said, breaking the silence. " I'm 'ssuming you want your schedule?"

"You're 'ssuming right," Aradia responded faintly, jerking her head out of the clouds.

"Right," Feferi grinned. "This way!"

* * *

A few moments later Aradia was standing on the edge of the campus, schedule clutched in hand. Now that she had parted ways with Feferi, she didn't know quite what to do with herself. She shrugged, slipped a novel on archeology out of her duffel, and began to read. Though she couldn't seem to kindle up an excitement about any of her old hobbies, at least she was trying...

"Who i'th that?" a voice asked quietly from a few yards away. The speaker had a barely noticeable lisp, but it tended to become more prominent when he was agitated.

Sollux Captor was standing on the edge of the campus, several paces away from Feferi. The discomfort in the air was palpable. Fat droplets of rain cascaded down from the strip of grey sky above them and plopped onto the pavement.

"Oh, that's Aradia," Feferi replied. "She's nice. I met her in the office a few minutes ago, but she swam- I mean, _ran_ off in quite a hurry." She chuckled at her little pun and added, as an afterthought: "You should go introduce yourself."

"I will," he was quick to respond.

"You should," she said again.

"Thank you for being tho cool about everything, Feferi," Sollux replied quickly, as if trying to get the awkward formalities out of the way. "I know this can't have been ea'thy for you."

"Oh, cod, Sollux," she replied, waving a hand dismissively. "As if I hadn't seen this coming from a mile away."

'This' was their breakup, which Sollux had initiated a week ago at a nice seafood buffet in the suburbs. (Let's just say it involved a few broken plates, an angry cat, and an invitation never to return again.)

"Am I really that tranthparent?" he muttered, lifting his tinted glasses from his face and twirling them in one hand.

"Mmm," Feferi said impartially, not wanting to start an argument. "Oh, look. Aren't the clouds lovely today?"

"They look like ***** **** ** *****," Sollux replied cheerfully, setting his glasses back on his face with a flourish. (It's probably best that we block this statement, to protect the tender ears of young readers.)

"Oh, if you're going to glub about how SAAAD you are that the weather is all black and gloomy, like your soul," Feferi started, inhaling deeply," then you need to TUNA yourself around and GET OUT of here!" Her balled fists trembled with agitation.

"Fair enoug'th. Goodbye, Feferi," Sollux said stiffly. He turned and began to walk off, the original topic of conversation entirely forgotten.

"Bye, Thollux."

He glared.

"Sorry. _Sollux_." Feferi had to bite the inside of her lip to suppress a giggle.

* * *

Sollux sauntered off, sure that an invisible stormcloud was looming over his head. Darn Feferi and her stupid fish puns. Darn _everyone._ The stormcloud crackled and began to pour cold rain on his head.

As he walked across campus, still stewing, Sollux spotted Nepeta off to the right. She seemed to be trying to teach brawny Equius to doodle cats, but was failing miserably.

"I just don't understand how you can keep breaking all of my pencils!" she grumbled. "You're super-strong, and it's freaking meowt!"

"I apologize most sincerely," Equius managed," for the strain that my- ehm- muscular density has put on the doodling of oddly adorable cats as a recreational activity."

Nepeta blinked at him. "'S okay."

Sollux rolled his eyes and passed them. "Weirdos."

Suddenly, the new girl came into view. Aradia, that was her name. She was whistling softly and flipping through a book on... he squinted to make out the words on the binding. _Archeology_.

Suddenly, she glanced up at the sky. Her eyes were so _sad._ He didn't think he'd ever seen anyone look so depressed before.

Before he could tell them not to, Sollux's legs were propelling him towards Aradia. _Turn around,_ he thought to himself, exasperated with his lack of self-control. _Dumb... legs... won't work!_ It was too late to turn around by this point, so Sollux shuffled forward, putting one foot in front of another.

From close range he could tell that Aradia had pallid skin and piercing grey-green eyes, underlined by dark circles from a lack of sleep. A crescent-moon birthmark stood out from the skin underneath her left eye. If anything, it added to her already striking appearance.

"Hello?" Aradia asked, staring right at him. Her unabashed gaze made his heart stutter.

"Um, hi. Thollux Captor," he introduced himself, sticking out a hand. When she didn't make a move to accept the gesture, Sollux awkwardly retracted his arm.

"Aradia Megido," she replied. Her voice was soft, and strangely winsome.

Sollux stood there, paralyzed with indecision about what to say next. He opened his mouth. Closed it again, like the colossal idiot he was. Introductions had never been his strong suit.

Finally, Aradia said," Do you want to go for a walk?"

Sollux nodded mutely. She had rendered him speechless with just a look.

* * *

"First you draw an oval," Nepeta instructed patiently," and then you draw another, smaller oval in the middle of the big oval. Like this!" She demonstrated, tracing shapes onto the coarse paper with the crumbly lead of her pencil.

"Pardon me, Miss Nepeta, but I just don't see why it's so imperative that I learn how to draw kittens!" Equius lamented.

"It's _fun,_ silly!" Nepeta smirked. "Don't you ever do anything fun?"

"Well, I am rather interested in blood types..." Equius began hesitantly. "I am an AB positive, which is rather rare on the spectrum."

"That isn't really what I meant by fun..." Nepeta replied thoughtfully. "Sheesh, you're going to need more help in the fun department than I thought!"

"Um, pardon me, but I wasn't aware there was a 'fun department.'" Equius had begun to perspire heavily, which was customary for him when nervous.

Nepeta sighed. "See what I mean? You need help."

"Oh dear..." was all that Equius was able to muster.

Suddenly, Nepeta's head jerked up. "Is Sollux walking with someone?"

Equius arched an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that young Captor was currently courting Feferi."

"That's old news," Nepeta said impatiently, waving a paw- er- _hand_ in Equius's direction. "Oh, look, he's smiling at her. Is she smiling back? I think she might be."

Aradia made an animated gesture, causing Sollux to reply with an equally snarky comment. _There._ Aradia was definitely smiling now.

Suddenly, Aradia stumbled. She caught herself by looping an arm around Sollux's shoulder and clinging to him like a support. Aradia's cheeks reddened slightly at the contact, and a nervous apology rushed from her lips, but Sollux had already beaten her to it. She laughed sheepishly and took a small step back. But her eyes held his.

"Well, it's about time to update the shipping wall..." Nepeta murmured to herself.


	2. The Red Letters

"Welcome to first period, class," Ms. Lalonde trilled. She was wearing a billowy peach-colored blouse and a long black skirt edged with silver thread. "Are there any new students this year?" Ms. Lalonde asked serenely. "Anyone? No?"

"I'm new," Aradia said from some far-off corner of the room. Feferi envied the cool, controlled manner in which she did everything. Detaching herself from her emotions was something she usually had a hard time of doing.

"Oh, of course," Ms. Lalonde smiled. "Well, welcome to _Homeschool_ _for the Stuck and Stranded._ I do hope you'll like it here."

There was a brief moment of silence in which Feferi craned her neck to try and get a read on Aradia's expression. She was peering down at her desk, thick black eyelashes fluttering slightly. "Thank you," she said softly.

Suddenly, Eridan Ampora spoke up from some distant corner of the room. "Ms. Lalonde, may we resume the lesson?" His expression, as always, was veiled behind a mask of cynicism. Feferi caught his eye and her raspberry-colored lips curled into a smile, but Eridan glanced away sharply.

"I will decide when the lesson begins, Eridan," Ms. Lalonde replied sharply. "But yes, I was just about to get into it. Today's lesson will be on psychology."

The lessons at _Homeschool_ tended to be a bit... unconventional, for lack of a better word. The students would focus on one subject per period, had an in-depth discussion on it, then move on to the next topic. It was like a vicious cycle of information being jammed into their brains.

"Psychology," Ms. Lalonde began," centers on the mindset of an individual. It's all about chemical reactions in the brain, of course, but they vary based on the person. Studies have shown that people who have been in an accident that renders them catatonic have an especially decreased amount of chemical reactions in the brain, leading to apatheticness and a lack of emotions."

Aradia let out a small sigh from the far corner of the room, air leaking from her like helium from a burst balloon. But Feferi was far too into the lesson to notice- she leaned forward and propped her head in her hands, entranced.

"Today," Ms. Lalonde continued," you're going to be paired off with a partner and check each others' emotional statistics based on a new piece of technology called EmotiScan. EmotiScan is so new to the market, in fact, that this school is going to get to be one of the first places to test it out!"

There were a few cautious murmurs of distaste from the back of the classroom. Feferi wasn't so sure that she was particularly infatuated with the idea of mind-reading technology either, but if Ms. Lalonde approved it, it had to be safe.

Ms. Lalonde slipped what looked like a crimson-red bracelet out of her skirt pocket, unclipped the back, and fastened it around her wrist. Curiosity silenced the class. Feferi leaned forward until she was almost perched on the edge of her seat to try and get a better look at it.

Now that she could see more clearly, it was obvious that the wristband had a faintly metallic sheen. A single pear-cut ruby was inlaid into the center.

"What is it?" Feferi breathed, not even realizing she was talking aloud.

Ms. Lalonde smiled gently and replied, "This, dear, is the EmotiScan. Would you like to try it on?"

Feferi nodded and shuffled forward, uncharacteristically nervous. She swallowed, trying to moisten her parched throat, and tilted her head upwards so that she didn't look afraid. She was a Peixes, and the Peixes family feared nothing. No one.

 _Then why did a little strip of metal spook her so much?_

"Hold out your hand," Ms. Lalonde instructed, unclipping the EmotiScan from her arm. Feferi snapped out of her reverie and complied.

Ms. Lalonde stuck the EmotiScan onto Feferi's wrist with surprising precision, then pressed a tiny button embedded in the side. A faint whirring emanated from it, sending sudden jolts of electricity up and down Feferi's spine. She was sure that it looked as if she were sucking on a lemon.

"Sorry, this may be a bit uncomfortable," Ms. Lalonde apologized. "I assure you, it won't harm you- it'll only jerk you around a bit."

Feferi could only nod and force an agonized smile onto her face.

After a few moments, the jitters died down quite suddenly. Feferi dared to breathe out a quiet sigh of relief.

Then the numbers came.

They flooded her vision, blurred and bloodred. Frantic, pulsing, beating against her brain- she tried to shriek, and it came out a strangled gasp. The blocks of text were still there, assaulting her vision, bleeding out from the corners of the room like a wound and seeping into its center.

"Feferi," Ms. Lalonde gasped," are you alright?" She tried to unclasp the bracelet from around Feferi's wrist, but Feferi shook her head.

"No," she whispered," I want to see what they say."

"'What they say?'" Ms. Lalonde queried. "If there are statistics about your emotional state, they should be showing up on the monitor, riiight-" She grabbed a remote from her desk and pointed it at the TV in the corner of the room. "- There."

It clicked on.

From the corner of the room, where the letters were still accumulating, Feferi locked eyes with Eridan. For once, he wasn't smirking. His eyes were wide and afraid, and his eyebrows were drawn back slightly with concern.

"Well, take a look at this," Ms. Lalonde smiled. "It seems your blood pressure is slightly elevated, but otherwise your vital statistics are just fine. Shall we take a look at your emotional levels?"

Feferi turned slowly towards her, brain abuzz with curiosity. "I'd rather not right now, ma'am," she replied cautiously. "I'm still seeing letters."

"Well, that's most unusual," Ms. Lalonde frowned. "Can you try and tell us what they say?"

Feferi squinted slightly, as if that would do any good. The letters weren't hovering in the air- it was more like they were embedded in her eyes, a piece of her subconscious suddenly come to life.

 _Fear the maid_ _, for she is the cold one,_ they read. _Thaw_ _the heart of ice and everything will be devoured by her flames._ It was certainly ominous, if nothing else.

Who could "the maid" be? Somehow it felt like Feferi had just sifted through someone's most personal thoughts. No one else needed to know about such an unimportant tidbit of information, she decided. Better just to keep it to herself...

"So, are the letters still there?" Nepeta squeaked. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"No," Feferi said," they're gone now." The lie slipped like silver from her tongue.

* * *

It had taken Feferi a lot of persuasion and about fifteen "I'm okay, really"s to assure Ms. Lalonde that the EmotiScan hadn't harmed her in any way. Finally, the young teacher had agreed to let everyone else test it out, but only on the pretenses that they took off the EmotiScan bracelets _immediately_ if they started to feel ill.

Feferi didn't have a clue what compelled her to lie so frivolously, but she knew that the cryptic red message didn't need to be shared with anyone else. _Not yet, anyways..._

"Alright, class," Ms. Lalonde explained," you'll be splitting into groups of two." She cleared her throat and began to read from a list hastily scribbled on graphing paper.

"Nepeta and Feferi. Since Feferi has already gone, just Nepeta will try on the EmotiScan this time."

Nepeta smiled at Feferi, who returned the gesture, and flounced to the front of the room to collect one of the ruby-red bracelets. Ms. Lalonde resumed reading the rest of the pairings.

"Equius and Gamzee."

Gamzee gave Equius a creepy, off-kilter grin and sauntered over to get a bracelet, swaying slightly on his feet. Equius shuddered.

"Aradia and Sollux."

Sollux immediately glanced at Aradia, flushing when she made eye contact. Aradia smiled passively in response.

"Tavros and Vriska."

Tavros grinned nervously at Vriska, who yawned, looking excessively bored.

"Kanaya and Karkat."

"OH JOY," Karkat exclaimed sardonically. "THE UPTIGHT CLOTHESHORSE GIRL IS ALL MINE."

"I'm Not Exactly Overjoyed With The Current Turn Of Events, Either," was Kanaya's tart response.

"Which leaves... Terezi and Eridan!"

Terezi grinned maniacally. "Low-blooded scum," Eridan murmured under his breath.

"I hope you're all prepared to analyze your feelings in a civilized and scientific manner," Ms. Lalonde smiled. Everyone let out a collective groan, except for Aradia. It didn't matter much to her. She didn't have any actual feelings left to talk about.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sollux and Aradia sat at a small wooden table in the corner across from Vriska and Tavros. Aradia was perching on the edge of her seat, gazing off into empty space, and Sollux was adjusting the settings on a tablet they were assigned to use.

"Tho," Sollux began," you're new here."

"Yes," Aradia said faintly, fiddling with the metal bracelet on her wrist. The app on the tablet that read her emotions was still buffering, and there was a dense silence in the air.

"Where did you attend thchool before this?"

"I didn't," she deadpanned. "I was homeschooled."

"Oh. Well, that'th ironic."

"Right?"

* * *

Across the room from them, Nepeta and Feferi were discussing their favorite memes.

"You know that one with the sad frog? Oh, goodness, I have a cat fit just trying to get over his face!" Nepeta dissolved into giggles, and her happiness level shot up instantly.

"I like the one with the goat," Feferi grinned. "Or maybe the one where that person drops a large bass fish repeatedly to the tune 'drop the bass'? Anyways, they're both _purr-fect_."

"Did you just make a cat pun?" Nepeta squealed.

Feferi beamed proudly. "Whale, it seems I did."

* * *

Just as Kanaya was booting up their tablet, with Karkat lingering unhelpfully nearby, the screen went black.

"GREAT, JUST GREAT," Karkat lamented," NOW YOU'VE GONE AND BROKEN OUR TABLET." He flung both hands up in the air in clear indignation.

"I Did Nothing Of The Sort," Kanaya replied serenely. "If You Would Just Calm Yourself, I Would Be Able To Explain That It's Out Of Batteries."

"WELL I DIDN'T KNOW THAT, DID I," Karkat huffed. "AND I DON'T SUPPOSE WE HAVE ACCESS TO A CHARGER?!"

"Actually, I Was Just Going To See Ms. Lalonde About Obtaining One."

"YOU GO DO THAT. YOU- YOU STUPID, ANNOYINGLY WELL-ADJUSTED PRETEEN!"

"If That Is Really The Best You Can Manage," Kanaya said cooly," Then Maybe You Shouldn't Bother Trying To Insult Me."

"OH, BE QUIET ALREADY. MS. LALONDE ONLY LIKES YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE DATING HER DAUGHTER."

"Take. That. BACK!" Kanaya fumed. Her eyes stared daggers at Karkat.

* * *

"Okay, it th'ould be working now," Sollux said, shattering the silence. "Ready?"

"Mhm." Aradia's nod was barely perceptible.

Sollux squinted at the display screen. "Apparently, different colors thingnify different moods. Blue ith depression, yellow for joy, and black for anger."

"What does it say right now?"

"Thuprisingly... nothing," Sollux replied, his forehead creasing with uncharacteristic concern. "Hey, AA- ith it alright if I call you that?" Aradia nodded. "Anyways, it'h a bit thtrange that your emotions aren't showing up. It th'eems like you're kind of neutral?"

"What does that mean?" Aradia asked vacantly.

"An abthence of emotion," Sollux mused. "I wonder how that'th pothible."

Aradia just stared down at her trembling hands, trying not to let any anger seep through the surface. The last time she had done something so rash, the consequences had not been light. She blanched just thinking about it.

"Hey, AA?" Sollux's voice brought her back from the precipice of anger. "Are you... okay?" When she didn't respond, Sollux leaned forward as if in reassurance, and his hand brushed against hers. A tingle of pleasant surprise raced up Aradia's spine.

She sat there with bated breath. His eyes were so fascinating. How hadn't she noticed that before? The right one was the same blue as the sky, and the left one was a chocolate brown shade. He was deathly pale, but somehow his vivid eyes and hair compensated for it.

"I'm fine," Aradia said finally, but her voice cracked mid-sentence. She coughed, feeling patches of heat rise to her cheeks. Had Sollux noticed her staring at him? _How embarassing._

Suddenly, the emotion monitor blipped. Aradia's mouth fell open slightly at the faint noise.

Was she imagining it? Had it really registered her as having an emotional reaction?

 _Oh, gosh, it had been so long..._

The only thing that kept her stomach from flipping was Sollux, sitting there and beaming at her. He somehow knew too that this was something monumental for her.

Well, maybe her stomach flipped a bit. But it was in a good way.

* * *

"Tavros, you go first."

"I'd rather, not," he managed," because emotions, make me uncomfortable, and also there are a lot of them, which is not preferable, and als-"

"Okay, blabby McBlabberpants," Vriska snapped. "Gosh, I h8 when you start ranting like that. I'll do the emotion thingymajig." She snapped the bracelet onto her wrist. "Turn on the tablet, if you will."

"Sure," Tavros muttered, booting it up. "Hey, isn't that Aradia, and Sollux also, and aren't they, staring at each other? Wow this is weird, I feel so awkward, even though they can't see me."

"If you're done speaking in sentence fragments," Vriska replied cooly," I'm gonna go over there and tease Mr. Heterochromia and Mrs. My Emotions Are Non-Existent for a bit. They're obviously infatuated."

"If I were to ship someone, I think, I would ship them, because Sollux is kind of a grouch, and Aradia is really nice, so he is really nice to her back, which is weird."

"You got all of that from one look at them? Sheesh, Tavy, you're worse that this overanalysis 8usiness than I am."

"Or maybe, better," he grumbled," depending, on how you look, at it."

* * *

"HONK," Gamzee honked.

"Will you stop that already?" Equius hissed. "It is wearing on my nerves, and I would prefer to not have to toss you out the window."

Gamzee responded with an eloquent," Haters gonna hate, brother. hONK."

Equius scowled darkly. He slipped the EmotiScan over his wrist with ample trouble and snapped," Let's just get this over with."

* * *

 **In the next chapter, Vriska's going to be getting on Sollux's nerves quite a bit. There was some foreshadowing there. (:**


End file.
